


those like us

by middnighter



Category: Green Lantern (Comics), Green Lantern Corps (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 19:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middnighter/pseuds/middnighter
Summary: Kyle is a barista at the local coffee shop, and can't help but eavesdropping on people talking in the language he's trying to learn.





	those like us

**Author's Note:**

> the obligatory coffee shop au every ship needs

The coffee shop where Kyle worked was a quiet little place in downtown Coast City. He had been working here ever since he started college, two years ago, and he was well-accustomed with the place and its customers. How Tuesdays were always busy, but Friday mornings were slow enough that he could work on assignments during his shift.

As far as student jobs went, it was a nice one.

He liked chatting with the regulars, getting to know them and how their day went. Listening to their stories made him feel like he was travelling through their words —which wasn’t going to happen soon on a student’s budget. As soon as Kyle got his degree and a job as an artist in one of the big comic book publishing houses, the world was going to be his. In the meantime, he settled for doodling on napkins and making latte art.

In addition to his art classes, Kyle was studying French. Even if the language was hard, with all the silent letters and the fact that even inanimate objects had genders, he thought he was doing pretty well —until he heard two people speaking in French at the table closest to the window.

Kyle realized he did not understand a sentence they said. It was so fast, a quarter of the syllables disappearing in improbable contractions, and they had to be talking in some kind of slang because he barely got a single word.

He asked his French teacher about it —a lovely woman who emigrated from Paris. She told him about how the way native speakers actually talked was very different from the standardized version taught in school. And that was a pain in Kyle’s ass, because he wanted to know how to _speak_ French, not only how to read academic texts.

Thankfully, she also told him that he would get better if he talked to French speakers outside of class, to get a better feel at the language and its day-to-day use.

The only French-speaking people Kyle knew where the guys from the coffee shop, so he hoped they’d come back and he would get the chance to eavesdrop and maybe start a conversation.

And someone had to be watching over Kyle, because they came back the following week, and the week after that, and joined the ranks of their regulars. Kyle caught their names —Guy and Hal— but did not get to mention his linguistic interest just yet. They spoke in a fluent English at the counter, and only talked in French at their table, and Kyle did not want to seem like a creep for eavesdropping, which, okay, he was totally doing.

But it wasn’t like he understood what they said anyway!

“ _Allez, demande-lui s’il est dispo pour un café cet aprèm!_ ” the brown-haired one —Hal— said, poking Guy in the ribs.

“ _Pourquoi je l’inviterais prendre un café?_ ” Guy replied. “ _Il bosse dans un café!_ ”

“ _Tout le monde aime bien être invité à prendre un café, Guy. Et c’est suffisamment neutre pour être juste une sortie entre potes si les mecs c’est pas son truc, pas comme un resto ou je sais pas. Tu risques rien!_ ” Hal sounded pretty enthusiastic, which was far from Guy’s case, given the death glare he was giving his friend. “ _Essaye pas de me faire croire que tu craques pas pour lui._ ”

“ _Toi par contre, tu risques de te manger ma main dans la gueule si tu la fermes pas._ ”

The only thing Kyle got from that was that they were arguing about something related to coffee. He started feeling weirdly self-conscious. Were the coffees he made them not good today?

When they left, Hal waved Kyle goodbye with a grin, and Guy grabbed his friend by the arm to drag him out of the coffee shop.

Kyle started listening to French songs with the lyrics printed out and watching French movies with subtitles on, because there was no way he would pick up the language with their rapid-fire conversations.

In the meantime, he spoke to them in English when they ordered their drinks. Hal was training to be a pilot and Guy was a liberal arts student. They both had a nice sense of humor, and Kyle found himself deliberately taking more time while making their orders, to have them stick around the counter a little longer, so they wouldn’t run off to their usual table to whisper in French to each other just yet.

Kyle wondered if they were together, and speaking in French because they were discussing couples things in public and did not want everyone to eavesdrop. He really wished it was not the case, because if he was honest with himself, he found Guy really cute.

As Kyle’s French got better, he started understanding more of their conversations. They were always bickering about something, but there was a fondness to it, which he used to only be able to tell thanks to the tone of their voices, but now that he understood more, he could also tell by the jabs and the light-hearted insults.

One afternoon, Guy went straight to their table and left Hal to ordered the drinks for both of them.

“Is he alright?” Kyle asked, looking at Guy over by the window.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hal said. “He’s pissed at me because I’m trying to get him to do something he’s afraid of. He can be a little… thick-headed sometimes.”

“Good luck with that,” Kyle said, and gave him the two drinks.

Hal winked at him and took them to their table.

It was a slow day. There were no other customers waiting to be served. It wouldn’t hurt anyone if Kyle listened, right?

“ _Franchement_ ,” Hal said, “ _je commence à en avoir ras le bol de te voir rien faire._ ” That, Kyle understood. _I’m getting sick of seeing you not doing anything._ That one was easy. “ _Va lui parler, c’est pas si compliqué_.” _Go talk to him, it’s not that hard._

Who were they talking about?

“ _Tu vas arrêter de fourrer ton nez dans les affaires des autres, oui?_ ” Guy snapped.

That was something like _that’s none of your business_ , if Kyle was not mistaken. That matched what Hal said earlier, about Guy being annoyed at him, and Kyle smiled, proud of himself for having gotten an idiom right.

“ _Désolé, pas quand il s’agit de mes potes._ ” _It is when it comes to my friends_. Kyle focused even more on the conversation. He couldn’t help but feel a little worried. He hoped Guy wasn’t in any trouble.

“ _Alors,_ ” Hal said, “ _va lui parler! Je sais que tu le trouves grave beau. Il est juste là, qu’est-ce que tu attends?_ ”

_Go talk to him! I know you think he’s super handsome. He’s right here, what are you waiting for?_

Kyle looked around to find the man they were talking about, feeling a pinch of jealousy, but the coffee shop was empty, save for him and a woman reading the newspaper a few tables down. Wait. Could it be they were talking about him?

“ _Il est en train de bosser, là, je vais pas le déranger. Tu m’as pris pour qui?_ ”  _He’s working, I’m not gonna bother him now. Who do you think I am?_

_“C’est ça, continue à te trouver des excuses._ ” Hal quirked an eyebrow. _Keep finding yourself excuses._

They were definitely talking about him. Kyle turned away from them to hide his smile and avoid blowing his cover.

Next time they come in, Kyle was going to write his number on Guy’s cup.


End file.
